Hot take: Component-level repair is dying and it's our own fault

I keep seeing people on here swap whole boards for a blown capacitor or a bad transistor. Why? A pack of 50 caps costs $8 and takes 10 minutes with a soldering iron. I get that time is money, but I fixed a 2012 Samsung TV last week for $3 in parts that someone was about to toss. On the other hand, I know guys who charge $80 an hour and say swapping boards is faster and more reliable. So what's the line between saving a device and losing a customer? Are we pushing this trade toward being just part swappers, or is component work just not worth it anymore?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_williams18d ago

Gotta admit, my soldering iron is covered in more dust than my wallet is full of cash these days. But hey, I still fix my own stuff for the thrill of smelling burnt rosin.

jasons6318d ago

You ever fix something and have that moment where you realize the part you just replaced cost less than a fast food burger? I fixed a dryer last month that the owner was ready to haul to the dump. Took me maybe 20 minutes to find a cracked solder joint on the control board, hit it with my iron, and it ran fine. I get that board swaps make sense when you're billing someone, but there's a reason I still keep a pile of salvaged caps and resistors in my garage. It's not about the money, it's about the fact that we're slowly killing the whole skill set. The more we push people to just drop in new boards, the less anyone knows how to read a schematic or follow a trace. It's a shame because that old Samsung CRT I fixed last year for a buck fifty is still going strong in my buddy's man cave.